For those who read my last article, I shot this brand new Ruger USA made Marlin 1895 45-70 right out of the box with Hornady 250g MonoFlex® gilding copper bullets.
First, with iron sights, I used the rear peep, and black tip of the front sight on the first shot and hit 3 1/2 inches low out of the bull. See Target below.
Ok, I realized, I should have used the slightly lower green bead on the front sight, so I covered the bull with the green bead. Shots 2 and 3 grouped 1.5 inches in the bull.
Next, I mounted my Leupold VX 2×6 on the Picatinny rail and shot three shots at 50 yards (no wind) and grouped all three shots in 5/8 inch at 2x power.
I was impressed.
I moved the target out to 75 yards and shot another three shots, grouping 1.0 inch and increased magnification to 6x power (max).
The Hornady three shots chrono an average of 1953 fps with a standard deviation SD = 3.1 fps out of my Garmin. Wow!!
Here is the JBM Ballistic table below for the Monoflex with 100 yd zero.
| Trajectory |
| Input Data |
| Manufacturer: |
Hornady |
Description: |
MonoFlex® |
| Caliber: |
0.458 in |
Weight: |
250.0 gr |
| Ballistic Coefficient: |
0.175 G1 (ASM) |
|
|
|
| Muzzle Velocity: |
1953.0 ft/s |
Distance to Chronograph: |
10.0 ft |
|
| Sight Height: |
1.50 in |
Sight Offset: |
0.00 in |
| Zero Height: |
0.00 in |
Zero Offset: |
0.00 in |
| Windage: |
0.000 MOA |
Elevation: |
0.000 MOA |
| Line Of Sight Angle: |
0.0 deg |
Cant Angle: |
0.0 deg |
|
| Wind Speed: |
10.0 mph |
Wind Angle: |
90.0 deg |
| Target Speed: |
10.0 mph |
Target Angle: |
90.0 deg |
| Target Height: |
12.0 in |
|
|
|
| Temperature: |
59.0 °F |
Pressure: |
29.92 in Hg |
| Humidity: |
0 % |
Altitude: |
0.0 ft |
|
| Vital Zone Radius: |
5.0 in |
|
|
|
| Std. Atmosphere at Altitude: |
No |
Pressure is Corrected: |
Yes |
| Zero at Max. Point Blank Range: |
No |
Target Relative Drops: |
Yes |
| Mark Sound Barrier Crossing: |
No |
Include Extra Rows: |
No |
| Column 1 Units: |
1.00 in |
Column 2 Units: |
1.00 MOA |
| Round Output to Whole Numbers: |
No |
|
|
| Output Data |
| Elevation: |
6.466 MOA |
Windage: |
0.000 MOA |
|
| Atmospheric Density: |
0.07647 lb/ft³ |
Speed of Sound: |
1116.4 ft/s |
|
| Maximum PBR: |
209 yd |
Maximum PBR Zero: |
180 yd |
| Range of Maximum Height: |
102 yd |
Energy at Maximum PBR: |
809.5 ft•lbs |
|
| Sectional Density: |
0.170 lb/in² |
|
|
| Calculated Table |
| Range |
Drop |
Drop |
Windage |
Windage |
Velocity |
Mach |
Energy |
Time |
Lead |
Lead |
| (yd) |
(in) |
(MOA) |
(in) |
(MOA) |
(ft/s) |
(none) |
(ft•lbs) |
(s) |
(in) |
(MOA) |
| 0 |
-1.5 |
*** |
0.0 |
*** |
1967.9 |
1.763 |
2149.4 |
0.000 |
0.0 |
*** |
| 25 |
-0.1 |
-0.4 |
0.2 |
0.7 |
1857.8 |
1.664 |
1915.6 |
0.039 |
6.9 |
26.4 |
| 50 |
0.7 |
1.3 |
0.8 |
1.5 |
1751.9 |
1.569 |
1703.3 |
0.081 |
14.2 |
27.2 |
| 75 |
0.7 |
0.9 |
1.9 |
2.4 |
1650.5 |
1.478 |
1511.9 |
0.125 |
22.0 |
28.0 |
| 100 |
-0.0 |
-0.0 |
3.4 |
3.2 |
1554.2 |
1.392 |
1340.6 |
0.172 |
30.2 |
28.9 |
| 125 |
-1.6 |
-1.2 |
5.4 |
4.2 |
1463.4 |
1.311 |
1188.5 |
0.221 |
39.0 |
29.8 |
| 150 |
-4.3 |
-2.7 |
8.0 |
5.1 |
1378.8 |
1.235 |
1055.1 |
0.274 |
48.3 |
30.7 |
| 175 |
-8.1 |
-4.4 |
11.2 |
6.1 |
1301.0 |
1.165 |
939.5 |
0.330 |
58.1 |
31.7 |
| 200 |
-13.2 |
-6.3 |
14.9 |
7.1 |
1230.9 |
1.103 |
840.9 |
0.390 |
68.6 |
32.7 |
|
|
|
Overall, I’m very impressed with both the rifle and Hornady ammo. Note the 1.6 inch drop at 125 yards.
I shot 17 rounds in one sitting at the range and my shoulder is fine.
Deer are the main target here out to 175 yards for 1000 ft-lbs. On black bear, I think 50 yards would be my max distance with 1700 ft-lbs delivered energy for full penetration.
Good Hunting!
